GUNS ABLAZE, BUT MISSING THE POINT

Indiscriminate violence in ‘Gangster Squad’ a sign that Hollywood doesn’t intend to change its ways

“Gangster Squad”

Rating: R

When: Opens today

Where: Wide release

Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

★½

There’s a raging love affair in “Gangster Squad” that has nothing to do with the on-screen romance between Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. In fact, it’s not related to any of the characters in the film, which claims to be inspired by the true story of a rough-and-tumble band of cops in 1949 Los Angeles, tasked with taking down mobster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) and his burgeoning West Coast crime syndicate by any means necessary. No, director Ruben Fleischer’s (“30 Minutes or Less”) gleefully grisly shoot-’em-up is just one more chapter in the epic love story between Hollywood, guns and gratuitous violence.

After the deadly shooting in July inside an Aurora, Colo., movie theater, it seemed as if that romance might’ve finally cooled. “Gangster Squad” was scheduled for release in September, and the trailer, which included a scene of gunmen shooting at an audience inside a darkened movie theater, was already playing. As the country reacted to the tragedy, Warner Bros. announced its decision to cut the offending scene and postpone the film’s release until 2013 when, presumably, the brouhaha over movie gun violence would have faded.

Talk about unfortunate timing. “Gangster Squad” hits theaters one month after the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn., and the same week as the second anniversary of the Tucson shooting that killed six and severely injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, among others. Though it’s missing the offending movie theater scene, the film is still riddled with indiscriminate gunfire and bone-crunching brutality, delivered with a cool smirk. If ever there was evidence that Hollywood is missing the point of this supposed national dialogue about gun violence, this is it.

It’s not the existence of gunplay that’s offensive. It is a mobster movie after all, one that incorporates every cinematic trope from the genre you can think of (plus a few more borrowed from contemporary buddy action flicks). There’s the jaded ladies’ man detective (Gosling) who swoops in on Cohen’s wise-talking arm piece (Stone) at the swinging nightclub where Carmen Miranda performs onstage and corrupt police brass dine with criminals at the tables below. There’s Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin), the brawny war hero who can’t seem to stop fighting the bad guys, even if his pregnant but tough-minded wife (Mireille Enos) asks him to stop. There’s the gravelly voiced police chief (Nick Nolte) willing to break all the rules to bring down the sadistic mobster who has bought off just about every lawman in the county.

Naturally, this prepackaged ensemble comes fully stocked with machine-gun-toting goons who require picking off by the cobbled-together squad of misfit cops, outnumbered but never outmatched.

What’s bothersome is that Fleischer and screenwriter Will Beall have substituted bullets for plot. Once the squad is assembled in a breezy montage reminiscent of “The A-Team,” its members brutishly plow ahead in their plan to bust down doors and rip apart Cohen’s establishments of vice with sheer force, and without the protection of their badges.

The more operations they dismantle, the more riled-up and vicious Cohen gets. Continue this on repeat, with increasing amounts of rapid gunfire indiscriminately spewed on bustling city streets, inside crowded nightclubs and anywhere else the criminals or their vigilante pursuers see fit. (You can’t help but wonder which, if any, of these urban war scenes are actually part of the inspirational “true story.”) Sprinkle in a fair share of buddy-cop comedy, a concocted romance that’s appealing only for its ability to rekindle memories of Stone and Gosling’s crackling “Crazy Stupid Love” chemistry, and a line or two of dialogue paying lip service to the fine moral line these vigilante cops are walking, and you’ve got yourself “Gangster Squad.”

Without a doubt, the recent spate of shocking gun violence fed into my strong negative reaction to the film. In fairness, “Gangster Squad” boasts some entertainment value in the form of swanky period costumes and sets, a chummy ensemble cast that carries off more than a few moments of clever banter, and a fearsome performance by Sean Penn. But the film’s frothy, playful tone sours when it mingles with so much needless gunplay and enthusiastic bloodshed, leaving you wondering if Hollywood — or the moviegoing audience — can ever quit this stormy love affair.

Alison Gang is the U-T’s movie critic. Email her at alison@alisongang.com